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Government to Expand Application Time for College Aid

Students hoping to attend university in the fall of 2017 will be able to apply for financial aid three months earlier

Associated Press

Sept. 13, 2015 4:09 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Aspiring college students will be able to apply for federal financial aid three months earlier than now and submit a previous year’s tax return, changes aimed at helping more people pay for school, the White House said Sunday.

Under the current system, students planning to start school in the fall of 2017 must wait until January of that year to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The new system will let...